Alabama jobless rate fell to 7.2% in April

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Alabama's unemployment rate continued its downward trend in April, falling for the ninth straight month and hitting the lowest level since the recession began squeezing the state's economy, officials said Friday.

The state's jobless rate was 7.2 percent in April, down from March's revised rate of 7.4 percent and 9.2 percent in April 2011, according to figures released Friday. There were 154,307 Alabamians unemployed in April, down from 157,494 in March and 203,520 a year earlier.

The last time Alabama's jobless rate was at or below 7.2 percent was November 2008.

"Alabama hasn't seen an unemployment rate this low since the start of the recession," Gov. Robert Bentley said in a statement.

The unemployment rate in the Birmingham-Hoover metro was 5.9 percent in April, down from 6.5 percent in March and 8 percent a year earlier. The Birmingham metro rate has declined nine of the last 10 months.

The U.S. unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in April, down from 8.2 percent in March and 9 percent a year ago.

State officials pointed to job gains and projects including an expansion announced Thursday that will create 125 jobs at Toyota's Huntsville engine plant. Preliminary figures show that the number of employees in motor vehicle parts manufacturing has increased by 13.1 percent over the past year. The number of employees in Alabama's motor vehicle manufacturing industry has increased by nearly 4 percent. Other sectors also have gained.

Among the counties, Shelby had the lowest unemployment rate in April at 4.6 percent, followed by Coffee at 5.3 percent, and Lee and Limestone counties at 5.6 percent. The highest was Wilcox at 15.1 percent, followed by Lowndes at 13.9 percent and Dallas at 12.2 percent.

The unemployment rate in April fell in 63 of Alabama's 67 counties, and remained unchanged at 6.9 percent in Henry County, state figures show.

Some labor experts conceded that the labor market has been showing improvement but said the declining jobless rate is mostly due to a reduction in the state's workforce as fewer Alabamians are looking for work.

"Things are better than they were a few years ago," said John Norris, an economist and manager of wealth management at Birmingham's Oakworth Capital Bank. "However, they aren't where they need to be, and the official decline in the unemployment rate is masking the issue."

Ahmad Ijaz, an economist at the University of Alabama, said the state's improving jobs numbers are due to a combination of factors as the economy rebounds from a deep economic downturn. Alabama added 8,500 jobs from March to April, but that was offset by a reduction in the labor force of 5,000 people.

Consumer spending seems to be improving since retailers are adding workers (1,200 from March to April), while 1,600 jobs were created in professional and business services. But about 5,200 of the jobs -- almost 61 percent -- created in Alabama during April were in hospitality and food services.

"Those pay relatively low wages, and do not really help the economic growth much in terms of GDP," Ijaz said.

One problem is the economic recovery and growth are anemic compared to past recessions, which makes most businesses cautious about hiring new workers, Ijaz added.

"At this stage of the recovery, almost three years since the end of the recession, we should be seeing at least some increase in labor force," he said.

Long-term jobless

Birmingham labor experts who hold free sessions for job seekers say there is still a large segment of long-term unemployed unable to find work.

"Attendance at Career Assistance Ministry meetings remains quite high with those who are chronically under-employed and barely or not meeting income needs," said Mike Coffee, who hosts monthly sessions in Vestavia Hills. "These folks are not reflected in the figures."

Gerriann Fagan of the Prism Group, a human resources consulting firm, said she is seeing only modest improvement in the job market.

"In addition to current job seekers, we'll have new graduates in the market soon," Fagan said. "I'm still concerned about long-term unemployed and the counties that are hardest hit."